Alaskan Intercept Series February 2023

Beginning February 10, 2023, following the February 4 shootdown of a Chinese high-altitude balloon, NORAD detected additional objects in Alaskan and Canadian airspace that prompted a series of shootdowns. F-22 Raptor pilots who engaged the objects over Alaska and the Yukon described characteristics that did not match any known technology: the objects had no visible propulsion, no wings, no exhaust, no transponder signal. One object was described by pilots as 'octagonal.' Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder stated: 'We have not yet been able to definitively assess what these objects are.' Defense officials privately acknowledged to Congress that the objects did not appear to be Chinese government assets. The objects' debris fell into extremely remote terrain or ocean and recovery of meaningful fragments was impossible in most cases. The February 2023 incidents — occurring in rapid succession over three countries (US, Canada, and one over Lake Huron Michigan) — represented the most unusual public series of aerial intercepts in NORAD history and renewed public debate about the nature of UAP that had been ongoing since the 2017 New York Times revelations.